For those close to me, it’s a well-documented fact that I am a massive pro wrestling fan. I believe my friends are mostly happy to let me have my obsession, as long as I’m not forcing it upon them. Many acquaintances, however, are surprised by this when I drop it into conversation. I enjoy those particular moments because it affords me the opportunity to explain why I love pro wrasslin’ so damn much. I mean, isn’t it fake? While it may not be a true “combat sport”, it’s realism is far beyond that of any stage play or musical I’ve ever been part of. It’s in this comparison, at the marriage of athletics and performance, that you can find the source of my love for professional wrestling. (Or sports entertainment, in some squared circles.)

Even those who are only mildly initiated know that Canada, particularly French Canada, loves pro wrestling. Quebec has continually provided the wrestling world with greats such as the historic Vachon family, or more recently Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Montreal itself is home to no less than five independent wrestling promotions, whose rosters are filled with both legendary and rising talent. None more so than IWS, the International Wrestling Syndicate.

I’d been to a few IWS shows before, it’s always a wild time. With guaranteed packed crowds, the space is crackling with energy, whether it’s at Bain Mathieu in Hochelaga, or the Corona Theatre in Sud-Ouest. Recently, much to my pleasure, I discovered that IWS was going to air their first pay-per-view (PPV) on a combat sports streaming service, Fite+. (At the top of this piece I mentioned my “obsession”, so it should come as no surprise that I had a subscription already.) I watched the event, which was held at L’Olympia, from the comfort of my living room, and I had a great fucking time. I’m not saying that it’s a better experience than live wrestling, because there is no comparison. (If you’ve never been, go see a live wrestling show. If you’re in Montreal, IWS is waiting for you.) But this was really good.

It was at this event that I first witnessed an absolute fucking superstar in “Sweet Pea” Kristara. It was a tag match for the IWS World Tag Team Championship, with the challengers introduced first. JT Producer and Matt Viviani are big fellas. I mean, I’m not so big, my perspective is my own, but I’d certainly hesitate before getting in a tussle with them at Biftek. But then the champions were introduced as Amazingly Sweet, and “Sweet Pea” Kristara, along with her tag team partner Alex Maze, walked on to my screen.

Wait. What? The IWS Tag Team Champions are a mixed gender team? I fucking love this.

What proceeded was a 15 minute performance I will never forget. The mixed gender match was no gimmick, there were no absurd caveats to the match (I’m looking at you WWE), and Sweet Pea and Alex Mayze kicked the shit out of their opponents. I was on my feet (reminder: in my living room) by the end of the match. I like to describe myself as a respect-based person, and after being gifted that match, I had nothing but respect.

The ring, the “squared circle”, is the stage. A wrestling ring is a very particular construct, designed to enhance the experience of the audience, in-person and at home. Steel beams, plywood, very thin foam, heavy, dense canvas, these are what make up a typical wrestling ring’s structure. There are no springs. The mat isn’t padded as the cynical observer would want to believe. These stages are unforgiving to the performer, and so giving to their audience. To finish, each corner houses a steel post, upon which “turnbuckles” are attached, and “ropes” (sometimes steel cables wrapped in rubber, sometimes fibre ropes wrapped in tape) are strung through, taught, but able to move with the weight of the wrestlers, both adding speed and reminding us that these people are larger than life, regardless of their size. The performers who take this stage are skilled athletes, choreographers, and actors. I’ve got an extensive stage combat background, and nothing I’ve ever been taught (or seen on stage) has compared to the skill and safety demonstrated by professional wrestlers. There are endless things to worry about during a wrestling match, which is thankfully overseen by a referee acting as coach, director, stooge, medical trainer, and more. The wrestlers don’t just wrassle, they also tell us a story, and that’s where the real magic is. Not every promotion is in a place to have 6-10 hours of live television time each week. While most indie promotions have embraced social media as a great tool for developing plots, the primary storytelling happens in the ring. Some pro wrestlers are better at athletics than storytelling, some are better at storytelling than athletics. And sometimes you find a wrestler who excels at both, and you don’t take your fucking eyes off them. This is “The Sweetest Pea” Kristara.

All of this to say: I reached out to Kristara because I had so much respect for her as a performer, I had to know more about her story. Thankfully, she responded, and it gave me a chance to speak with her, to talk about her art and her artistic motivations and inspirations.

We met on Google Meet early in the evening, and I was still chugging coffee, stoked for the conversation. Kristara had just finished work. In typical fashion, I wasted no time with small talk and began the conversation immediately. I had too much to ask. After the initial question and answer (27) was out of the way, I asked about training. (Full disclosure: I’ve dreamt of being a professional wrestler, or personality, for most of my life, and much of my curiosity is motivated by this.) Kristara explained to me how she got locked up with IWS.

So, I’ve been training for three years, but wrestling for two. I started a little later, because I went to University. I was like, “Oh, I have to get a real job, gotta make the family proud.” But then I thought, “No, I want to be silly, I want to be a wrestler.”

I studied Political Science and History at Concordia, because I wanted to get a government job. A lot of my family have government jobs and it gives them a lot of flexibility. I thought it was awesome to have a job that wouldn’t cause me stress.

What got me into wrestling was.. I’d always wanted to become a wrestler, but I wanted to go to school first, to be responsible. And then the pandemic happened, and I thought, “I’m graduating next semester and I’m doing nothing. As soon as schools are open, I’ll message some places.” IWS got back to me and I went as soon as they reopened. And it was a very weird time to start wrestling.

You couldn’t touch anyone. It’s a lot of talking, or doing things by yourself. I’d be doing a flip, and I’d fall, and I’m like, “why am I doing this? It's so weird!”

Then we started doing moves together, and I wasn’t used to human contact, you know?!

Often professional wrestlers find their way to the sport through other athletics, typically combat sports. Kristara is a gifted athlete, and her journey to wrestling wasn’t unlike many others.

Growing up I played every sport I could sign up for. I played a lot of basketball because my older sister played basketball. I wanted to do everything she wanted to do, but better than her. I played football, soccer, and I did track and field. Then I did some Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. I really like Muay Thai. I caught on to it a little quicker. I like how fast-paced it is.

IWS has a training centre, fully devoted to the training of new professional wrestlers. It’s at this dojo Kristara found herself during the pandemic. Wrestlers are necessarily in good shape (most of them) and devoted to their artform, and the gym is an important part of their lives. At the outset, training is intensive, and requires many, many hours, along with the sacrifice of a bit of blood and sweat. But, much like any other performance art, training as a pro wrestler never stops. I ask Kristara to elaborate on her initial experiences with training, and what that looks like now that she’s “graduated” and regularly booked.

It used to be a small place, a room with a boxing ring and wrestling ring. Right now it’s a pretty big place. Now we’ve got a boxing ring, a wrestling ring, and a gym as well. It’s a lot of space, and it wasn’t like that before. There’s room to do a lot of different things. For students, when you pay your tuition you have access to all the equipment, too!

There are different levels of classes. Right now there are more beginner classes because there are more beginner people. Students move at their own pace through training. Some people catch on faster, some don’t come as often. It really depends on the speed you’re learning.

How does one “graduate” from the IWS Dojo?

If you’re able to lead a match by yourself, you’re probably ready to start getting bookings. Some people take months, some people take years. It’s different for everyone. I graduated, but I still go. I was always told “never stop training, always keep working on your craft”. Right now, I usually go to the advanced class on Thursdays, taught by Andrew, also known as Shayne Hawke. He runs the training centre.

Sometimes I go to beginners classes, because you can help other people learn things. And it never hurts to refresh on little things, the basics. It really depends on how many bookings I have that week. Right now I go once or twice a week, but there are weeks I go every day.

Bookings are simply that, when a wrestler is booked on an event’s card, in a match. For some pro wrestlers, this can mean a lot of traveling, a lot of time spent in your car, on the road. What does a typical pro wrestling work week look like for Sweet Pea?

Right now, I go to the gym every second day, and the Dojo every Thursday. Sometimes I’ll try to go other days, as well. The past few months I’ve had a booking every Saturday. Sometimes I’ll have a Sunday, sometimes a Friday, but Saturday has been consistent. And that becomes a whole weekend. The day after a booking I almost feel hungover because I’m so exhausted. You spend your whole day traveling to the venue, planning the match, watching other people’s matches, talking to coworkers, it’s all really consuming.

For IWS, I show up even earlier because we all have to help to make it happen. We go to the Dojo, we tear the ring down, put it in the truck, go to the venue, build the ring, set everything up. Inevitably it’s, “Oh this is missing, someone run to the dollar store!” and then other wrestlers start to show up and you start to plan your match, so it’s a long day overall.

I do a lot of Ontario bookings, as well. I’m willing to travel, depending on the booking. I go to Ottawa a lot, they’ve got a pretty good wrestling scene there. There are a lot of people that go back and forth between Montreal and Ottawa.

Independent regional promotions are the lifeblood of professional wrestling, and IWS is not alone in Montreal, nor the wider region. Kristara has been booked with most of them, but IWS is where she calls home.

IWS is definitely my favorite place to be. There is C*4, that's downtown Ottawa. They always put on big shows and bring in a lot of people. It’s hard in wrestling to bring in people from numerous areas, but they bring people in from Montreal, Toronto, and more. Battlewar is pretty cool. It’s at Les Foufounes Électrique. It’s a little bit more underground. I don’t do that one too often, but I like it. And also, there is Acclaim Pro Wrestling in Ottawa. I’m the Women’s Champion there. Surprisingly, as a Montreal wrestler, I don’t wrestle in Montreal very often. Unless it’s for IWS.

“The Sweetest Pea” Kristara with her Acclaim Women’s Championship.

With the mention of her Acclaim Women’s Championship, I return to Kristara and Alex Mayze holding the IWS World Tag Team Championship as a mixed-gender team.

We didn’t know that we were winning! We were just having a match, facing our coach and a friend (Shayne Hawke and Matt Viviani). We thought, “this is going to be fun and easy”, and then during the match my partner Alex was pinning our coach, and he said “Don’t move” and he didn’t kick out. Immediately we assumed we messed up! I guess they thought we’d panic if we knew we were going to win. So it was a really genuine response, I remember. I couldn’t breathe. I was dry-crying. What is going on? Who are WE? The tag team scene in IWS is so strong, so the fact that they trusted us to give us the titles, that was… WOW, we’re the first people of our kind to hold these titles. I was the first woman in IWS to hold a title that wasn’t the women's championship. And to do it with my friend… we don’t look like people who are usually winning titles. They really surprised us.

There are plenty of children in North America, and worldwide, who dream of becoming a professional wrestler at some point. For most, this dream will fade. But there are a select few who continue to pursue this passion. The Sweetest Pea was one of those children.

I loved wrestling. One of my older cousins had the [video] games, and I started playing them. Then I would make my mom buy me wrestling tickets, non-stop. For Christmas it would be “Get me the Smackdown VS Raw game!” and my birthday would be, “Okay, now they’re coming to town, we need floor seats RIGHT NOW!”

With every sport, as well as performance art, there are those that inspire the next generation to follow the path. Whether it’s watching Ryan Miller win the NHL’s Vezina Trophy (Carey Price for the Habs fans), or Alice Ripley win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, these people light the flame in youth that will carry their craft into the future. Wrestling is, of course, no different.

Growing up, I loved Edge. He was my favorite wrestler. Not just for what he did in the ring, he’s a good wrestler, but it was his expressions, how he made me feel, his promo work. Every story he was involved in felt like the most important story ever. I don’t think I’m on the level of Edge, but those little expressions, the comedy… It's almost like clown work. I would always try to mimic this. We have to make people feel things. They can’t hear what you’re saying, they might speak a different language, so I try to use my body as much as possible to convey whatever I’m feeling, whether it’s fear or excitement. Also, I had Trish Stratus’ promos memorized. I loved her promo work. She definitely had a big impact, her character work is so good. She’s a great wrestler, too, but her character work is iconic.

There are a lot of women that inspire me, also. I wanted to be a wrestler, but I never thought I could be. I didn’t think I fit the mold of the typical North American woman wrestler on TV. WWE NXT, the 2018/2019 era, really inspired me. Women like Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, they really inspired me with their work, the level of matches they were able to put on. I’d never seen women’s matches on that level. When I went to Toronto and saw NXT Takeover, Io Sky versus Candice LeRae, I was like, “Okay, that’s it. I’m becoming a wrestler.” That sealed it for me.

Within both the arts community, and the sports community, we’re also blessed to be influenced and inspired by our own colleagues. Those who we love to watch, who we love to work with. There is no shortage of this within the wrestling community, as Kristara explains.

I’m really influenced by my coaches, the style of wrestling they teach. When you’re a new wrestler, you don’t get booked often, so you just show up with veterans and hope to get noticed. I was able to watch my coaches wrestle a lot. So watching how they do things, watching people react, that is really influential. Seeing how they work the crowd… they can tell you what to do when you’re practicing, and you’re like “Sure”, but then when you see them do it, when you see the results, you GET IT. You try it, it works, and you think, “Okay! They know what they’re talking about!”

I want to be booked regardless of my gender. I don’t want to be a good women’s wrestler, I want to be a good wrestler. People like Vanessa Kraven, LuFisto, Alexia Nicole, they’re so inspiring. They’ve done a really good job of proving themselves, breaking those boundaries. I want to be on that level, where I could be thrown into a match with, like, five enormous men.

As our conversation winds down, I ask Kristara what’s next for The Sweetest Pea.

The next thing for me would be to branch out of my area. The biggest obstacle as a Canadian wrestler is getting exposure. It's like a tree falling in a forest. I would love to be able to do a tour in Japan. I was supposed to go to Western Canada, but unfortunately that show had issues and could not take place - which would be another short term goal, making that trip.

NOW is your chance to catch Sweet Pea before she’s blown up beyond a regional talent. You can check out Kristara on Instagram to follow her bookings. If you’ve never been to an IWS event, your next opportunity is tomorrow night (Saturday, 28 October, 2023) at Freedom To Fight at Le Studio TD, where she’ll be fighting against Melanie Havok, Dani Leo, and current champion Katrina Creed in a four-way match for the IWS Women’s Championship. Get your tickets HERE!

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